Creating Change Through Branding

Branding, it’s just a pretty logo, right?  Wrong!  Good branding tells the story of ‘who we are’ as an organisation and what we are trying to achieve. It’s a powerful way to communicate our values, mission, and identity to our audience and (done well), it can create emotional connections, differentiate ourselves from competitors, and build a loyal following.

Bold are masters at developing brands which tell an organisation’s story. Recently, they worked on the Off the Table campaign, inspiring industry and individuals to stand up against the use of farmed fish in Scotland and internationally. This is how they created the campaign.

Off the Table

Bold worked on the Off the Table campaign with Wildfish. Wildfish is an independent UK charity working to reverse the decline of wild fish populations and their habitats, addressing issues such as pollution, agricultural practices and water abstraction.

Wildfish aims to inspire, inform, and involve all those who can take action, working together to create and protect healthy, sustainable waters.

Off The Table is a coalition campaign established in partnership with Patagonia, Sea Shepherd and numerous other global environmental groups. Its mission is to rally chefs, restaurants and businesses to remove farmed salmon from their menus, decreasing demand for unsustainable fishing practices.

The campaign required an identity that directly targeted the hospitality industry, communicating key facts and figures to make the case for removing farmed salmon from restaurants based on the quality of produce and animal welfare. The brand needed to be cohesive with that of the parent organisation whilst also representing the importance of the cause in its own right. The imagery associated with unsustainable farming is graphic and unappealing, requiring Bold to find ways of accurately communicating the severity of the issue whilst still attracting people to engage with the campaign and learn how to take action in real terms.

By combining hand-drawn graphics alongside photographs showing the negative consequences of the practice, Bold created a campaign that would engage users creatively, counteracting frightening statistics with bright and uplifting visual elements. To ensure continuity, Bold echoed the branding of the parent organisation, introducing new patterns and colours related to salmon farming and communicating the importance of the campaign in its own right.

The language used alongside the visual storytelling encouraged users to take action, with graphic shapes leading them through the narrative and arriving at actionable steps to do their bit. The website also included a directory, communicating the popularity of the cause and allowing those taking the pledge to publicly declare their support and benefit from an association with a reputable charity.

By letting the facts speak for themselves, the campaign created by Bold enabled restaurateurs to feel they were making their own informed decisions, using a bright and optimistic aesthetic to steer them towards making the right choice.

So far, over 100 restaurants and businesses have signed up, including Tate, Edinburgh Royal Botanic Gardens and Silo. The campaign continues to expand globally, with engagement from chefs across Europe, Canada and the United States. Want to get involved, then head over to their website.

Do you have a story that people need to hear? Then, get in touch with Bold for help with your campaign.